Being a balanced lance flier with a focus on offense, Shanna benefits the most from an IV set which will boost her offensive potential.

Boon

+SPD: A solid choice of boon for Shanna, taking her from 35 to 38. Combined with a flier boost and a skill such as Swift Sparrow or Life and Death, Shanna can easily reach Speed in the high 40s, allowing her to consistently double even the fastest of units.

+ATK: Another great choice of boon for Shanna, taking her Attack from 30 to 33. Given her normally average Attack stat, Shanna really appreciates the extra offensive power, especially with Shanna’s lance.

Neutral

HP: Shanna has fairly decent HP overall. As this stat helps both her physical and magical bulk in one, keeping it neutral is recommended.

Bane

-DEF: A good choice of bane for Shanna if one wants to build her to use Ploy skills effectively as this bane will leave her Resistance untouched.

-RES: Another good choice if one does not want to use Ploy skills on Shanna. The majority of enemies she will be facing that can retaliate on her will be physical, so keeping her Defense over her Resistance is a good idea.

With her new personal lance, Shanna can become an offensive powerhouse.

For her IVs, Shanna will enjoy a boon in either Speed or Attack, both helping with her offensive potential. For bane, either Defense or Resistance work fine, with Defense being recommended if one plans to use Ploy skills and Resistance being recommended for not using Ploys. Her weapon, Shanna’s Lance, helps her tremendously with her offensive prowess through faster Special charge and increase Special power. Any Assist can work fine, with Reposition being a very popular choice for fliers. As for the Special itself, Moonbow works fantastically thanks to it’s low cooldown. If Shanna doubles with Desperation active, she’ll always activate Moonbow on one of her attacks, assuming nothing that prevents Special charge is in play.

For her A slot, Atk/Spd Solo is a fantastic choice that grants Shanna a huge boost to Attack and Speed whenever she has no adjacent allies. Swift Sparrow is another strong option, granting a similar but not as large boost to Attack and Speed whenever she initiates combat. Fury is a strong budget option that gives a good boost to all of her stats, and the recoil damage from Fury can help Shanna to reach Desperation range easier. Speaking of, Desperation is Shanna’s best B slot for this set, allowing her to perform any follow-up attack immediately after her first when she’s below 75% HP.

The C slot is open to player preference. A Wave skill such as Even Spd Wave will be a solid option that allows Shanna to sustain herself with a Speed buff every other turn. However, this is absolutely not necessary for this build, so feel free to experiment. If Shanna is on a flier team, she’ll want to take one of the Flier Buffs such as Goad Fliers. Ploy skills such as Def Ploy as strong options too. Finally, for the Sacred Seal, either a simple Attack or Speed Seal will give Shanna one last boost to her offensive potential. A Ploy skill is also a solid fit.

This set maximizes on Shanna’s offensive stats and gives her a strong offensive prowess on the battlefield.

Ideally, Shanna will want a Speed boon with a Defense bane. This is to maximize her doubling potential while also keeping her ability to utilize ploys intact. An Attack boon is also a good choice. The Firesweep Lance is the weapon of choice, a powerful lance that prevents all counterattacks, so while Shanna won’t be countered on player phase, she cannot counter on enemy phase.

The Assist slot is open to player choice and pretty much anything can be run here. Reposition is a popular choice for Assist due to its movement utility. Shanna’s default Iceberg serves as a fine Special since it works well with her good Resistance, but you can also utilize Luna, particularly if you have Life and Death.

For the A slot, Atk/Spd Solo is a fantastic option which grants a huge offensive boost whenever she is away from her teammates. Swift Sparrow is another amazing choice, granting Shanna with a boost to Attack and Speed whenever she initiates. One can also use Life and Death which grants a larger boost than Swift Sparrow but also harms her ability to use ploys. Another alternative is Fury which provides an all-round boost to all stats, helping her in all areas. For the B slot, Chill skills work fantastically with a Firesweep weapon. Both Chill Def and Chill Spd make for solid choices, allowing Shanna to always debuff the opponent with the highest Defense or Speed depending on which is chosen. Alternatively to Chill skills, one could use one of the movement based B slot skills. Hit and Run is a strong choice, moving Shanna back one space after combat. This can potentially prevent Shanna from being attacked on enemy phase or make room for another unit to protect her. Drag Back is also an option, but do note that the enemy will come back with her if the enemy is still standing.

Your C slot should either be a Ploy skill or a Flier Buff. Combining Spd Ploy and Def Ploy is Shanna’s best option. As both can be used as Sacred Seals, whichever one Shanna uses in the C slot does not matter. Even when running a Chill skill, this can be a great combo as Chills will not always affect whatever opponent Shanna will be facing. If Shanna is in a flier team, using a Flier Buff such as Hone or Goad Fliers with the Spd Ploy or Def Ploy seal is a great combination. If one has Life and Death as your A slot, you could use a Wave Skill such as Even Spd Wave or a Flier buff in the C slot and a simple Attack +3 Seal instead.

Despite her seemingly leading towards more offensive play, Shanna can be surprisingly effective when used defensively.

Both an Attack and Speed boon will help Shanna out. While Speed isn’t as important here, it does help Shanna to avoid potential double attacks easier. Even a Defense boon can work very well here, especially with Defense being a superboon. Resistance is ultimately her least important stat here, so it is the recommended bane. Her new personal weapon, Shanna’s Lance, is extremely good and works well for this build, granting reduced Special cooldown and more powerful Special attacks. Any Assist works fine, with Reposition being the general go-to choice for most fliers. Since she’ll likely be near her allies with this set, Blue Flame works fantastically thanks to the good cooldown and high power of this Special. Moonbow and Noontime are also good (and much cheaper) alternatives to Blue Flame thanks to their naturally low cooldown.

There are many different passives skills in each slot that can work well with this set. In the A slot, Atk/Def Bond works exceptionally, boosting Shanna’s Attack and Defense whenever adjacent to an ally which also synergises perfectly with Blue Flame. Alternatively, Close Def grants Shanna with a large defensive boost whenever attacked up close. For a budget alternative, Steady Stance is a solid alternative that grants a large Defense boost whenever Shanna is attacked. In the B slot, Quick Riposte guarantees that Shanna obtains her follow-up attack whenever foe initiates combat. Renewal is another strong option, granting Shanna with self-sustainability through self healing. Finally, Guard also works nicely and helps Shanna against enemies which charge their Special fast, such as any armored foe with Bold Fighter. Atk Smoke is a solid C slot choice, debuffing any foe near her target for a hefty amount of Attack, helping not only her only survivability, but also the survivability of her allies. If she’s alongside other fliers, she’ll want a flier buff instead, such as Goad Flier.

Last but not least, Close Def makes for a solid Sacred Seal choice, giving Shanna one final defensive push whenever attacked up close. Quick Riposte also works fantastically if Shanna is not already using it as her B slot skill. Darting Stance is another strong option, helping her to avoid double attacks more easily.

Introduction

Shanna joins the fight as a lance flier, one of many to choose from. She possesses great Speed, serviceable Attack and respectable bulk, making her an effective all-round fighter and giving her a good variety of builds and setups to choose from. While many choose to one of the plentiful other options when it comes to lance fliers, Shanna is certainly no slouch, especially with her new weapon.

At 35 Speed, Shanna is one of the fastest lance fliers and one of the overall fastest blue units too. While her Attack stat of 30 is admittedly on the weaker side for lance fliers, it is still serviceable, especially if equipped with a powerful weapon such as her personal weapon or the Firesweep Lance. With her respectable bulk of 39 HP, 25 Defense and 29 Resistance, Shanna doesn’t necessarily fall short in any stat.

With the 2.11.0 update came Shanna’s own personal weapon, aptly named Shanna’s lance. This weapon has finally given Shanna her own special place among the other lance fliers such as Shigure, Tana, and Cordelia, who all previously outclassed her in the majority of scenarios. Being able to utilize the power of a Slaying Lance and a Harmonic Lance in one is a massive boon and gives Shanna a great increase in effectiveness, though a Firesweep Lance still remains a strong option.

Overall, Shanna is a well-balanced lance fighter with a strong weapon, good offenses, and respectable defenses. Build her well and this sprightly flier will show you just what she is capable of.

Strengths

Great Speed

With a Speed stat of 35, Shanna is very much on the faster end of lance units. This gives Shanna good doubling potential out of the box. Her Speed can also easily be enhanced through IVs, skills and flier boosts, allowing her to easily reach Speed in the high 40s depending on your setup.

Above Average Resistance

At 29 Resistance, Shanna can shrug off magical attacks from red enemies fairly well. In addition to this, Shanna is capable of making decent use of the Ploy skills. While they won’t always activate at 29 is still fairly middling, she can activate them much more effectively than other lance fliers such as Shigure, Cordelia, and Tana.

Shanna’s Lance

Shanna’s Lance, while simple in nature, has shown to be a tried and tested weapon concept that has proven to be incredibly effective on other units. The base version of Shanna’s Lance is simply a Slaying Lance, while it can also be refined to add the functionality of the Harmonic Lance. This makes Shanna’s Lance basically the lance equivalent to Hauteclere and Nameless Blade, granting reduced Special cooldown and additional damage whenever Shanna’s Special is activated. Overall, a solid weapon.

Weaknesses

Average Attack

At 30 Attack, Shanna is one of the weaker lance fighters in terms of Attack. While Shanna is not necessarily weak in terms of Attack, this lower Attack makes her less desirable when compared to other lance fliers such as Shigure, Tana, and Cordelia, all of which possess more Attack.

Average physical bulk

At a value of 25, Shanna’s Defense is not necessarily bad, but it is fairly average. She will take considerable damage from strong axe and lance fighters and also some of the more powerful sword fighters such as Ayra and Soleil. Combined with her average HP of 39, Shanna can fall quickly to physical attacks if one are not careful.

Team Options

Being a flier unit, Shanna will benefit the most from being alongside other flier units who are capable of providing her with flier buffs. Outside of a flier team, Shanna will benefit the most from people who can provide her offensive boosts as well as people who can cover for her weakness to green units.

Flying Dancers: Being dancers that can provide her with flier buffs, New Years Azura, Bridal Ninian, and YT Olivia all make for a fantastic partner to Shanna, greatly helping with her offensive potential and positioning in one.

Red Fliers: Elincia, New Years Camilla, and Laegjarn are solid sword fliers who can provide flier buffs to Shanna and can cover for her green weakness. Halloween Nowi is your only option for a magical red flier and is also a strong partner for Shanna.

Green Fliers: Minerva, Cherche, Myrrh, and SF Nino can all aid Shanna in fighting blue units and provide her with flier buffs, as well as being able to benefit themselves from Shanna’s effectiveness against red units.

Melee Buffers: While Shanna will prefer the company of fliers, units such as Eirika, Marth, Ephraim, Brave Lucina, Delthea, and Linde can all provide strong offensive boosts to her when used on a mixed movement team.

Counters

Shanna has noticeable weaknesses when fighting tough physical units. Her lower Attack means she sometimes will be unable to KO bulkier units, particularly axe wielders. This combined with her mediocre physical bulk means a lot of powerful physical fighters will be able to deal with Shanna quite easily if they can get in their Attack. Of course, being a flier also means she has the typical flier weakness to arrows, so do be careful if you have to leave Shanna in enemy ranges.

Archers: Given that bows have effective damage against any flier without Iote’s shield, archers pose a significant threat to Shanna. Brave Lyn, Bridal Cordelia, WF Hinoka, and Halloween Jakob are four of the most powerful archers you’ll come across and are easily capable of a ORKO against Shanna.

Strong Green Fighters: All forms of Armads wielding Hector, Brave Ephraim, Amelia, Myrrh, Fallen Robin, and Brave Ike all possess solid Attack and Defense, making it tricky for Shanna to effectively combat these units without using a Firesweep Lance to block their counterattacks.

User Submitted Builds

A generalist build for Shanna.
Harmonic Lance+ is used to boost Moonbow's damage output by a bunch. Can be replace with Sol for a pseudo-Aether. Or just use Aether.
Repositiom because she's flying. Dual Rally can replace it if going for Arena points.
Distant Counter is used to tank mages.
Renewal for sustainability. Chill Spd can work if the healing is not needed.
Atk Smoke is used to tank better in general. Can be replace with Atk/Spd/Def Ploy if needed.
Close Def to tank more of the melee units, can be replaced with Iote's Shield if needed.

Used on a hybrid flier emblem team (Palla/Cordelia for offense and Michalis/Shanna for defense), as a mage baiting unit. When attacked by a ranged unit, Shanna reaches 43/60 defenses when under a S rank ally support and Fortify Fliers. 23 (+6 +2 +6 +6)/33 (+6 +2 +6 +6 +7). Uses the RES upgrade on Berkut's Lance.

Berkut's Lance is taken for the RES boost. Distant Defense is taken for increased Tanking Ability. Lance Breaker is taken to counter other lances running Lancebreaker - When fully supported Shanna reaches 60/47/43/60 stats - (2 Goad Fliers + 1 Fort Fliers + Ally Support + Skills). Fortify Fliers is taken to maximize tanking prowess without sacrificing offensive C skills on the other units.

FIRE EVERYTHING!!!! (Watch Star Trek to get it) (debuff -offensive build) This build takes Shanna up to the next level by sacrificing all defenses for disastrous attack, speed and player phase whether it’s “taking out the trash” (Red Units) or “sweeping” an entire team (except green units). This built is strictly for player phase, so once she is done attacking either move her out of the way or dance to the next target ( if you don’t care about spd go for +attack) the debuff comes from the spd smoke and Sacred Seal attack smoke 3, so she can let other units take the “ leftovers”